Deep
by Kaytoko
Summary: AU Ruled by the crime syndicate in the darkness of the night, Republic City has fallen into the hands of the corrupt. Yet Captain Iroh of the Republic City Police thinks he's found the one thing that will bring the city back into the light. To uncover the truth he must get involved with the city's worst, and step one is seducing the criminal mastermind's only daughter. Irosami
1. Chapter 1

_Deep_

Summary: AU. Ruled by the crime syndicate in the darkness of the night, Republic City has fallen into the hands of the corrupt. The dark fingers of the greedy have left no person untouched, and yet Captain Iroh of the Republic City Police Force thinks he's found the one thing that will bring Republic City back into the light. But to do so he must get deeply involved with the syndicate themselves, and his first step is to seduce the head criminal mastermind's only daughter. Irosami.

A/N: I don't know where this one came from. I've been considering writing a longer chapter fic for Irosami for a while now, but every idea I've had has been AU. I wanted to give a shot writing something darker and, erm, _sexier_, since my version of them is pretty chill in _Amethyst_. That being said, rating may change in the future, depending on how risky I decide to be. Anyway, it's some what inspired by Christopher Nolan's _Dark Knight_ trilogy. I like his version of a gritty, crime-infested Gotham, and I thought it would work well with the darker themes presented for Republic City.

Sorry to those of you following my other stories. I promise I'll update them soon. ;_;

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_Chapter One_

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#_Robbery in progress on 45th South. Requesting back up._#

#_Break and enter north of 29th. Suspect seen fleeing the premises on foot, wearing a white top with black pants. Pursuing at a distance._#

Iroh steepled his fingers, resisting the urge to turn off the radio on his desk. The reports weren't anything different from any other day in the gritty slums of Republic City, but they weren't what he was wanting to hear at the moment. Things were quiet. Quieter than normal for the gritty and corrupted streets of the once great city, and if his ten years of police work was anything to go off of, it didn't bode well for him.

Republic City used to be a symbol of unity and success. Built during the tail end of the Hundred-Year War, its towering spires served as a medium for protection and promised prosperity for those who wished to reside there. But that was an ideal of a war-worn people, and one that was easily proven to be transparent.

In the decades of peace that followed the great war, the people found that their successes were short lived as the hierarchy between the wealthy and the poor grew wide with the rise of corruption. Those who started with little were left with nothing, and those who had more than enough continued to bathe in the suffering of those beneath them. It was a breeding ground for crime and despite the best efforts of Republic City's police force, the city took a turn for the darker. Now the blood of poor soaked the streets of the city's slums and a haze of lust and greed darkened the skies as the city's most corrupt rose in power.

For the past five years, Iroh worked diligently to uncover the inner workings of the city's crime syndicate, discovering a group of twisted people intent on leveling the hierarchy of the city who called themselves the Equalists. A mysterious and evasive group of crime lords, the Equalists supposedly pulled the strings of every chain of crimes within the city under the guise that they were aiding the shift in power. Up until then, not much was known about the Equalists beyond their intent. Few were taken into custody, and even fewer knew about the true workings of the group. Every lead the police discovered had them running in circles with false evidence and eventually ending with inconclusive results. Many questioned the reasoning behind investigating the Equalists, and with more officers being gunned down on the streets every day, the questions surrounding the involvement of the Equalists died quickly.

But Iroh wasn't ready to let the case fall to wayside quite yet. His instincts told him that they were definitely onto something and that if he let the case disappear, he'd lose the chance to discover the truth. With the special permission of Chief Lin Beifong, he pulled together a rag-tag team of officers to look for the patterns behind the crimes; to search for the Equalists behind the criminals. It took them years, but they were finally on the edge of making a profound discovery. He could feel it.

Someone knocked on his door. He turned down the sound on his radio. "Enter."

"Sir," a young officer said, opening the door. His green eyes were wide and excited. "We found it."

A beat passed and Iroh was out of his chair. "Tell me everything. Leave nothing out."

They passed through the busy hallways of the central police station, avoiding the quickly moving officers in uniform as they headed for the Chief's office. The officer, a kid named Bolin and his older brother Mako were all that made up his reconnaissance team for his case. He had found the two of them on the streets, sneaking food from the street stands at a local market. They were quick and outran him for quite some time. Luckily for them, Iroh could see that they were essentially good boys who were dealt a bad hand in life, and treated them to lunch. He offered to let their record of stealing food slide as long as they shaped up their lives and used their quick senses for good. They accepted his offer to enter them into officer training, barely holding back grateful tears. To repay him, they worked harder than the other trainees in their class and graduated with top marks. With how dedicated they were to their jobs, Iroh was proud to have them join him on his case.

"You were right about Future Industries," Bolin was saying. "They've got something shady going on behind the scenes." He handed over a grey, pixel-heavy picture that must have been taken from a security camera. It detailed two people. "We've been tailing Shady Shin for a couple of weeks now but this is the first time we've seen him interacting with anybody in Future Industries."

Iroh pulled a frown as he looked at the picture. "If Shin's there then we can safely assume that Zolt is involved as well," he said. Having the Triple Threat Triad involved would make his case even more dangerous, but it meant that they were on the right track. "What I want to know is why Hiroshi Sato is calling up the scum of Republic City for off hour meetings."

"Secret crack addiction?" Bolin suggested.

"Not likely," Iroh shot down.

Bolin shrugged and pushed open the Chief's door for his superior. Mako was already waiting in Lin Beifong's office, the woman Chief of Police seated with a serious look behind her desk. Habitually, Iroh snapped her a solute of respect. She dismissed him with an annoyed look.

"Quit that nonsense. We're not in the military, Captain," she snapped. He lost count of how many times she had said that to him over the years. The door closed softly behind him and Bolin moved to stand next to his brother. "Now that we're all gathered like cattle," Lin said sarcastically. "Get on with this briefing."

"Yes, ma'am," Bolin said. He laid a pair of pictures upon the desk for her and Iroh to see. "After spotting Shady Shin out by the factories of Future Industries, Mako and I did some research on Hiroshi Sato." He placed a stack of stapled papers beside the picture of the middle-aged owner of Future Industries. "For the most part, his slate is clean, but his dealings get a little murky down the line."

"We have a few accounts of Satomobiles being sold to various members of the Triad through several different middle men," Mako supplied. "He's keeping his hands out of it, but Hiroshi Sato is involved with every transaction. We have reason to believe that he may be a key player in the communications between the crime lords of the underground and the Equalists."

Iroh flipped through the stapled papers documenting the sales of Satomobiles to Triad members. "Hiroshi Sato…" he said thoughtfully. "If he's involved with the crime syndicate, this could change the course of everything. How certain are you that he's dealing with the Equalists?"

"Well, at first we didn't realize that he was," Bolin admitted. "We were tracking the sales but the numbers weren't matching up. After a while we started to notice that there was a hidden shipment of unknown materials being sent to an undisclosed location. We were stumped about where to go from there, but after long nights of wire tapping, we caught one name: Amon."

Iroh looked up sharply. The few Equalists he managed to question all said and believed the same thing: "Amon will save us." He didn't realize they were referring to a singular person until now.

"Amon," Lin growled. "If we can prove that Hiroshi Sato is dealing with this "Amon" then we can bring him into custody. They've been secretive about their information, but Hiroshi is a sleazy weakling. It won't be hard to make him squeal."

"That's the problem," Mako said. "He's got nothing on him. Not even a speeding ticket. And if our past dealings with the Equalists were anything to go off of, the flow of information will stop as soon as we get involved. He's our only lead. We can't let that die when we know its still hot."

"Then what do you suggest?" Iroh asked.

Bolin gave a small sigh, knowing his words probably wouldn't be taken well. "We need to send somebody in."

"Undercover?" Iroh said in surprise.

"Absolutely not," Lin said sharply. "We know little to nothing about this situation other than it _might_ produce the answer to finding the Equalists. It's dangerous and too much of a gamble. Especially for you two."

Iroh gave it some thought. "I don't think we should discredit their idea quite yet," he said. "If we were to go undercover, how do you think we're going to get in?"

Bolin and Mako shared a quick glance. "Through Hiroshi's point of contact." Mako gestured toward the second photo on the desk. "His daughter."

The picture caught a beautiful young woman with gently curled long dark hair exiting a vehicle. Her eyes were a remarkable shade of green accented by expertly applied shades of copper and maroon eye shadow. Iroh easily admitted that she was the most stunning woman he had ever laid eyes on.

"Asami Sato, 23, is the only daughter of Hiroshi Sato. Her mother died when she was young," Mako said. "From what we can gather, she's not directly involved with any of the dealings her father does, but she's an excellent judge of character. Only the people who can pass through her are able to speak with Hiroshi, but she's a tough nut to crack. You'd have to convince her that you are willing to do dealings with her father without outing him."

"Which means getting involved with the syndicate," Iroh said. He looked over at Lin, who gave him a frown.

"No. I will not authorize this at the risk of our men," she said.

"Then authorize it for me," Iroh responded. "Think about it. This is our best lead in years. We can't let it slip through our hands. If we can find out what the Equalists are planning before it happens, we might be able to make a difference before things get worse."

"Iroh," she said with a note of uncharacteristic softness. "I cannot let you do this."

He matched her eyes. "I know. But you and I both know how important this is."

She closed her eyes giving a long, drawn-out sigh. "There will be no back up. No contact with the police. We can't risk having your cover blown by loose-lipped agents. Once you step in, you're on your own. Do you understand?"

Iroh stood straighter. "Yes ma'am."

"Good," she said sitting back. "Now get to work. We've got a lot to plan."

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A/N: I hope you guys liked this start. Let me know if you want to hear more! We'll meet Asami in the next chapter. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

_Deep_

A/N: Holy crap! What an incredible influx of feedback! Seriously, thank you guys so much. Keep telling me what you like! I love hearing your speculations on what you think is going to happen. :) One quick thing though, even thought this story is inspired by The _Dark Knight_ trilogy, it _isn't_ the _Dark Knight_ trilogy. So, sorry guys, no Batman. I just really liked the idea of a dark and gritty city with a crime syndicate. I hope you're still interested though! Also, after thinking on it for a while (and the help of some people on tumblr) I've decided to keep this story without bending.

Ambiance music: Tonight by John Legend. (It feels like very high class club music to me)

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_Chapter Two_

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Iroh stood outside the club with a casual indifference, periodically checking the gold watch he had clasped around his left wrist. He was dressed in a nicely pressed suit made out of the finest fabrics, his hair smoothed away from his face and a dash of cologne dabbed along his jawline. He fit the picture of young money as well as he should being a son of a noble Fire Nation family. It had been a long time since he had dressed in anything other than his police uniform, and the last time he had worn a suit was the night before he left for Republic City when he took his mother out for dinner. She had tried to convince him to stay in the Fire Nation, join the police force there perhaps, but he had a natural calling for justice that drew his attention to Republic City. For the first time in the ten years he spent in the city, he finally felt like he was making some progress, and whether or not he succeeded rested on the slim, beautiful shoulders of Asami Sato.

For a solid week after his reconnaissance brothers had broke the information about Hiroshi Sato, Iroh prepared himself for his mission. He changed his identity and hid the information that would give him away in the archives at the police department. He dipped into the inheritance money he'd been saving to create the illusion that he was a high end man willing to make a deal to get richer. In the meantime, he went over the details of his case with his men, making sure he had every detail committed to memory. There was no consulting memos this time around. They studied the workings of the underground until they came up with a viable story that could get him in the door without much question. From then on, he'd be on his own. Mako, dressed as a chauffeur, drove him to the launch point of the mission: the Jade Dragon Nightclub. Asami Sato was sure to be attending that night, and Iroh had all of one shot to make it work. As he excited the car, he overheard Mako whisper a soft "Good luck, sir". As the car drove away, Iroh set his shoulders. There was no going back from here.

He easily assumed a position of an anxious party-goer being stood up by his date. His eyes searched for an imaginary woman while carefully cataloguing the faces he _did_ know. He counted three different Triad members walk through the doors and a pair of women he knew to be avid members of the Agni Kai Gang. With one final glance at his watch, he finally decided it was time to enter.

He took all of three steps towards the door when a top-down convertible Satomobile came flying to a halt just in front of the building. Its engine growled with pure power as it was placed into park, the valet parking driver running over to open the door for the driver. Iroh had to force himself not to look surprised as Asami Sato stepped out from behind the wheel. She was dressed in a shimmering silver cocktail dress that barely reached her knees, showcasing her long legs. Her long dark hair was slightly wind-blown from her wild driving, and she passed a hand through it a couple times to be sure it was tamed before giving the valet driver a wink and smile as she handed over her keys. The young man struggled to be professional as she walked for the door. Eyes gravitated towards her, following her every move. She gave the bouncer a smile and a quick compliment, the big man's cheeks turning a slight shade of pink, before disappearing into the building.

Once she was out of sight, Iroh released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He couldn't deny that she made quite an impression on him and everyone else who had watched her arrive. Knowing the nature of men, he knew she would be the talk of the night which would make approaching her a little more challenging than he originally anticipated. Regardless, he felt a little thrill of excitement at the idea of wooing a woman who knew how to commandeer the attention of men. Casting one last glance at the streets, he wasted no time entering the club.

The air was thick and heated, and it smelled heavily of alcohol and sweat. Already, people crowded the dance floor, dancing to the beats of the music with a bass so loud it reverberated through Iroh's chest. A brilliantly lit up bar with backlight glass counter tops edged the ground floor, several people sitting and talking on barstools while expert bartenders mixed custom drinks for their high end customers. On both sides of the dance floor spiraled two stair cases, leading up to the lounge balcony where people nursed drinks in a more private setting. The lighting was low, only the flashing lights of the dance floor, the bar and table lamps from the second floor lit the room.

It didn't take him long to find Asami. The heiress sat on a barstool at the lit up bar, a cool neon green martini garnished with orange slices in hand. Three men already vied for her attention, two merely buzzed and the third loudly drunk. She stirred her drink almost lazily with one hand, listening to the boastful stories the wove. There was a sultry smile on her lips but Iroh was surprised to see a sharpness to her eyes, giving him the impression that she listened to what they had to say, but didn't care to remember it.

Iroh took a quick glance around. Approaching her now wouldn't do any good. He picked out an open seat at the opposite end of the bar, just vacated by a girl anxious to dance. Sliding into the seat, he ordered a soft liquor to keep him busy. He sipped at the sharp drink taking note of his vantage point. From this angle, he could see Asami's face. She seemed bored to him, like she had dealt with this situation many times before, and her casual attempt to look around the club proved it. Her brilliant light green eyes slid past him once or twice before catching. He held her curious look for a moment or two before turning his eyes away, hiding his smirk with a sip of his drink. When he looked back minutes later, she had turned away, but that wasn't the last time he'd catch her eye that night.

To his surprise, the night passed quickly. It was easy to stay perched upon his seat at the bar and just observe the ongoings around him. He watched as people danced and talked and drank. He watched drunk rich girls flirt shamelessly with dense, even drunker heirs to big fortunes. He watched as businessmen in finely tailored suits spoke over drinks on the second floor and he watched a pair of Triad members have a heated dispute by the emergency exit. He watched as Asami fended off pursuer after pursuer with practiced ease, barely blinking an eye as they filed in one after another, thinking they'd have a shot to bed the lovely Sato heiress. Later in the night, he made small talk with a pair of giggling rich girls for a while until they realized that he wasn't interested in taking them up on their offer for a threesome. He was two drinks in and had just ordered his third when his opportunity to act arrived.

He was still smiling in amusement from watching a wild dancing girl accidentally whack her boyfriend in the jaw with her elbow when he gave Asami a quick glance. He almost did a double take when he realized she was frowning, her posture defensive and annoyed. The man standing beside her, a sleazy looking kid in a rumpled suit, was leaning in a little too close for her comfort, trying to talk into her ear. It was clear that she wasn't enjoying the conversation anymore, but the guy was just not taking the hint. He reached to push her hair out of her face- perhaps to kiss her. Iroh prided himself to be a man of honor, something his grandfather had taught him when he was growing up, and if there was one thing he couldn't stand for, it was the harassment of women. He pulled a frown and stood from his seat to intervene, but, to his surprise, Asami was quicker.

She caught his fingers before they could touch the skin of her cheek and bent them back with a deft twist of her hand. Even from where he was standing, Iroh could hear the snap of bones breaking. The man's face went ash white, and Iroh resisted the urge to grin as Asami held him in place by his now broken fingers. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she reminded him not to overstep his boundaries. He snatched his hand back when she released him, cussing angrily as he walked away.

She merely rolled her eyes at his dramatics and leaned forward to rest her arms on the countertop. There was a brief moment where her strong, promiscuous façade fell, and she seemed almost sad as she distractedly twisted her martini glass between her fingers. But the moment was gone as fast as it came and she waved down the bartender with a smile to order another drink.

The exchange left Iroh pondering for a short moment, wondering what kind of secrets could produce such a sad look. He decided to think over that interesting slip of her expression later, reminding himself that he had a job to do and his leading lady was finally free. He kept his approach casual, in case she wasn't in the mood for more unwanted company, and slid in beside her, catching the bartender's attention as he walked by.

"Crescent Island Gin," he said, glancing over to meet Asami's eyes as she looked up at him. He casually slid the unfinished drink in his hand off to the side. "On the rocks." The bartender moved to finish his orders and Iroh gave Asami a slow smile. Her delicate eyebrows pulled in, unimpressed by his suave entrance.

"Look," she said before he could introduce himself. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now, so if you're here to sweet-talk me into your bed, you can just forget it."

His surprised smile widened at her blunt dismissal. "Wow," he said. "I have never been rejected so quickly before in my life."

She was unamused that he was still talking to her. She turned away with a glare. "Well, you better get used to it."

He chuckled lightly. "Luckily for me, I wasn't actually looking to get you in my bed." She gave him a suspicious glance. "I just wanted to talk," he continued. She rolled her eyes.

"That's what they all say," she said with a frown. "You better think of something more original than that, or I'm definitely walking away."

The jab stung his pride. Iroh's pleasant smile fell. "Alright," he said. "What I really wanted to say was that I noticed how you defended yourself not too long ago. It gave me the impression that you're a strong woman with an even stronger spirit, but now I think you're too scared to handle a man." He was stretching the truth quite a bit, but her sharp, offended look was exactly what he was looking for.

"Excuse me?" she said dangerously. "I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of handling a man."

"Really?" he asked with a false note of disbelief. "Then why did you let the last one get under your skin like that?"

She opened her mouth to defend herself, but she was speechless. Her cheeks were flushed with anger and her brow creased with disbelief. She was flustered and insulted and so irrationally _attractive _that Iroh had to school his features into a calm mask of confidence, casually turning away as the bartender returned with their drinks. He lifted his drink and gave her choice an impressed glance.

"I'd think that a woman who can down Fire Whiskey is more than capable of handling a bit of simple conversation." He held out her glass for her to take, his lips lifting into a small smirk. "Was that original enough for you?"

She glared at him and for a brief moment, he thought he had gone too far. He breathed an internal sigh of relief when she reached up to accept the glass.

"You're lucky," she said, taking a small sip of her drink. "If you weren't so handsome I wouldn't have let you walk away with insulting me."

He gave her a small, confident smirk as he clinked their glasses together. "I'll be sure to thank my ancestors, then."

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A/N: Next time we'll see the continuation of their conversation! Thank you for reading, and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

_Deep_

A/N: Hello again, guys! Now that Amethyst is finally over, I can focus my efforts on this story! Unfortunately though, I'm super super busy now that school has started again, so this won't be updated that often. But, thank you guys anyway for all the lovely feedback you've given so far, and thanks especially to those of you who reminded me that this story existed. :)

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_Chapter Three_

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From his seat in a secluded table upon the second story of the club, Iroh casually sipped at his drink, legs crossed and one arm resting upon the back of the booth. From across the table, Asami had her chin propped up on one hand, her other hand drawing lazy circles around the edge of her half-empty martini glass. Their table overlooked the dance floor, but the high walls of their small, secluded seats dampened the heavy bass coming from the ground floor below them. The lights still strobed and flickered with the beats, but the low light emanating from the lamp upon their table changed the atmosphere between them from daring to sultry. Something dark was worming its way into Iroh's chest as he watched the way her neatly manicured finger trailed along the edge of her glass, and despite the fact that he knew she was watching him, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Casually, she leaned back, lifting her finger from the glass. His eyes followed, darting up to watch her carefully wet her lips with her tongue. He swallowed thickly and her lips quirk up a bit.

She was teasing him, and he was playing right along with her. All the better to get her to feel more in control. He reached for his drink and took a long drag, trying to drown out the strange curl worming around in his belly. Placing the glass down again, he looked at her.

"Do you always come to places like this?" he asked.

She gave him a thin smile. "Not always."

"Then where do you go?"

She kept his eyes with hers, narrowing them slightly so that her green eyes glinted a bit in the low lighting. "That's my secret."

Iroh shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Now I have a question," she said, leaning forward slightly so that the front of her dress dipped down a bit. Iroh tried not to stare. "We've been sitting here for nearly twenty minutes and I have yet to learn your name."

He gave her a smile. "That's not a question."

"And that's not an answer." Asami took a drink of her martini, catching his eyes again with hers. "What's your name, stranger?"

He lifted his lips a bit, his alias on the tip of his tongue. "Iroh."

She quirked a smile and his heart dropped to his stomach. "That sounds a bit Fire Nation to me."

Internally, he cursed himself for spitting out his name automatically rather than using his carefully stitched together alias. He schooled his features into an indifferent expression to cover his mistake. "My mother was big on traditional sounding names. I'm not too partial on it. I prefer Li."

"That's too bad," Asami said, lifting her drink again. "Iroh's a nice name." Iroh couldn't resist a small smile despite his slip up and joined her with a sip of his own drink. "Now," she continued, setting her drink back on the table with a sharp clink. "How about we end this transparent small talk and get down to grit of things. I'm not really the reason why you're here, now am I, Li?"

He placed his glass down upon the table. "You're sharp."

Her lips lifted fractionally. "I have to be."

He leaned forward. "Alright then, Miss Sato. I'll confess." he said. "I heard from some very reliable sources that you're the one to talk to about getting in on the more… _profitable_ lines of work around here. Even you can admit that times have been tough lately and a man's got to do what he can to get a one-up in the world. So, whatever it is you have to offer, I'm interested."

Through his speech, he watched her expression minutely grow colder. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she lifted her shoulders until he no longer saw the flirtatious heiress girl before him. Now, she was all business and secrets. A woman with a plan, and a deadly sharp tongue.

"Well," she said carefully, folding her hands upon the glossy surface of the table. "Straight to the point, I see."

He gave her a ghost of a smile.

For a long moment, she studied his face, searching for something. A flicker of falsehood, a twitch of an eye. Iroh kept her calculating gaze, hiding his true intentions behind the mask he was carefully weaving together. His fingers tapped lightly against the surface of the table. Asami hummed lightly and leaned forward, hands rising up to rest under her chin.

"Look, stranger," she said with a slightly teasing filter over the edge in her voice. "I'll let you in on a small secret, because I like you. This is not the kind of deal you can just walk into. You have to prove your worth. We only let the trusted into our circle, and quite frankly, I don't trust you."

"And there's no reason that you should," Iroh agreed. "I have given you nothing that proves my loyalty. But," he said, sitting forward. "I'm willing to do what I can to gain your trust."

She eyed him carefully, a suspicious look filtering over her features. "Why?"

Externally, he leaned back fractionally. Internally, he was severely backpedaling. It wouldn't help to have her wary of him before he could do anything worthwhile in this mission. He needed a different approach. Leaning against the leather of the booth again, he lifted his drink, averting his eyes downward to watch the amber liquid swirl around in his glass cup.

"I'm sure you've heard it all before. The world is falling apart. Those on the streets do what they can to survive. The political campaign grows more greedy and corrupt with every passing month. Honestly, I could care less. But something inside me is telling me that something's going to change soon. And I want to be sure I'm on the right side when that happens." He looked up at the beautiful yet calculating woman sitting in before him. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Asami Sato?"

Her answering smile was thin and unamused. Despite that, she gave a soft chuckle, her lips pulling up slightly. "I'll tell you what," she said after a moment, reaching to open the small handbag she carried with her. Iroh's eyes followed her hands, watching her sift through her stash of bills, make-up and a folded up switch knife to pull out a pen. Reaching across the table, she gestured for him to give her his hand. He did so with cautious slowness, trying to suppress the spark that seemed to skitter across his skin at the touch of her soft fingers against his. He stared at their joined hands as she held his hand open, the pen biting at his palm as she jotted down a string of numbers in elegant handwriting.

"Call this number," she said, releasing his hand to close her pen. "Tell the man who answers that you're interested in getting in on the business. If he gives you trouble, tell him I personally sent you. He should understand. If you can manage to get on his good side, then we'll speak about this again."

Iroh pulled his hand back to look at the number, quickly registering that she gave him a number that he knew to be connected with Lightening Bolt Zolt. Closing his hand, he looked up at her again. "That's a promise?" he inquired.

She smiled. "Only if you can perform."

He looked down at the number again, reading it again. Already he was memorizing the unique curve to her handwriting. He wasn't sure if that was a result of his training, or the fact that there was just something that was drawing him to her. He looked up at her again.

"Thank you."

She chuckled softly. "Don't thank me yet, stranger. It's all uphill from here on."

He quirked a smile, knowing she was right. "I think I can handle it."

She hummed thoughtfully, lifting her martini to finish off the remaining blue liquid left in the glass. Placing the empty cup down on the table with a soft clink, she lifted the olive between two neatly manicured fingers. "We'll see about that."

Catching his eyes, she gave him a slow smile before popping the olive in her mouth. Unintentionally, Iroh's eyes darted down to the dark curve of her lips, watching as they moved with her chewing, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she swallowed. A knot curled tightly deep in his belly and he forced himself to pull his eyes back up to hers. Her green eyes were dancing in amusement, completely aware of the effect her actions were having on him.

"Well," she said slowly. "This was a pleasant chat, but I'm afraid I have things I must attend to. Thank you for the drinks, though." She began to stand up and it wasn't until she was fully on her feet that Iroh's mind caught up to him.

"W-wait." His voice came out grittier than he intended and he coughed slightly to clear his throat. She paused, handbag over her shoulder and her green eyes glittering in the low lighting. Her silver dress shimmered at the slightest movements of her hips, and Iroh struggled to keep his eyes on her face. "Will I see you again?"

She made a small, laughing sound and her dark painted lips turned up into an amused smile. Unexpectedly, she leaned in close to him, a hand falling upon his closest shoulder as she breathed into his ear. A dark shiver raced down his spine and tightened the knot already pulling in his stomach. He swallowed thickly as her warm breath tickled his skin.

"Don't sound so desperate now, _Iroh_," she whispered. "You'll see me soon enough."

With that, she pulled away, her hand falling from his shoulder and without so much as a single passing glance, she turned on her heel and walked away. His eyes followed her form until the crowd swallowed her up, but he remained in his seat. Slowly, he pulled himself back together, passing a hand through his hair as he leaned back against the booth. To say Asami Sato wasn't a force to be reckoned with would be a severe understatement. The woman had a fire of her own and was more than aware of the way she affected those around her. Calculating and sharp, he really had no idea what he was getting into when he walked up to her earlier that night. He knew she was beautiful, but he hadn't expected to become so drawn to her. There was something so magnetic about her actions that just drew him in. The thought of it alone sent recursive shivers down his spine.

Idly, he looked at the string of numbers written across his palm again. Somehow, he managed to get what he came for, and while it wasn't the Equalists, it was a step in the right direction. Starting that next day, he would finally put his hard work to use and get cracking down on how this crime syndicate really worked. There was so much he still had to do, but his mind felt hazy and unfocused. The only thing he could really think of was a pair of electric green eyes that seemed to shoot lightening bolts straight through his chest every time they made contact with his. Already he could tell that if anything brought him down in this undercover mission, it would be her. But despite his reservations about how dangerous it would be to become involved with Hiroshi Sato's daughter, he couldn't help but be drawn to her.

Logic be damned, he wanted Asami Sato.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: Whew. Finally finished it! I did mention that the rating of this story may go up, didn't I? Yeah, keep that in mind. Anyway, we're onto the meat of the story in the next chapter. So stay tuned, and please review! :)


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